I actually got to play copies of the first "Adventure" and "Star Wars" at UCBerkeley in the 1970's, and spent a fair amount of time in arcades and got pretty good at "Space Invaders" & not quite as good at "Asteroids".

But my experience with games after that is kind of spotty. Am wondering what folks recommend to try out, for the sake of "literacy" (and fun). Especially useful are games I can play on my PC as I do not have any console systems.

"We all secretly believe we are right about everything and, by extension, we are all wrong." W. Storr, The Unpersuadables

Still have my original Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Cartridge in the shelf.You cannot even select more than one unit at once, AND scroll with the dpad.Still my favorite RTS of all time... but nostalgia might be involved =DGreat music too.

@PhilfreiWell over the time I downloaded all the ATARI2600-32bit console emulators and played all the major games.For old Arcade games there is MAME of course - playing a round of Frogger every day is good for you ! =DAlso collections are great, like Capcom classics and Taito legends

There is also a lot to discover; like for example the popular mobile game "Flight Control" which is actually a copy of the game Final Approach for the ATARI 2600.

Are you aiming for any particular genre or just games literacy in general? Because you're going to have to be a bit more specific if you don't want loads of recommendations.

'literacy' is an odd criteria to recommend games for. Something like Battlezone 98 is fantastic game, both for the concept and execution of a FPS/RTS hybrid, and being a genuinely great game. But in terms of 'literacy' is almost irrelevant since it's a complete dead end - no one has really tried to do the same concept and even most of it's really great UI ideas have gone ignored.

I'd do the other major genres but my brain is tired. Hat tip to anyone who manages to get a succinct list of RPG lineage games.

RPGs well... Diablo 1, Final Fantasy, Zelda, Phantasy Star, UltimaIf you go back far enough the line with early adventure games gets blurry...RPGs evolved from different genres and have many subgenres now - not the easiest genre

Racing Games ?Need For Speed, Test Drive, Gran Turismo

Fighting GamesStreet Fighter, Mortal Kombat...

But if you just want favorites that were good and influential in general:My personal tip: Play Metal Gear Solid 1 ! - There is also a PC Version.

Nice one. For a more up to date Dungeon Master experience you might try Legend of Grimrock which is quite awesome. And when you recommend Dungeon Master then Captive must also be named

Must play games for the PC from very old to old:

- Ultima 7- Monkey Island 1 & 2 (might as well go for the high-res versions of a couple of years ago)- Sam & Max (the hilarious original, not the weaker Telltale episodic games. Be sure to get the cd version which has full voices throughout)- Fallout 1 & 2, fully patched and for the best experience with all user-created patches you can find on the net- Thief Gold & Thief 2 (on Steam, they work flawlessly on my Windows 7 rig)- Deus Ex

Playstation (emulated if necessary):

- Silent Hill 1 (best horror game ever)- Final Fantasy 7 (looks horrible, but a very gripping story and the flexible materia system provides awesome gameplay)- Final Fantasy 9 (looks a lot better and has an excellent fantasy tale to tell)

I could go on forever though, I'd better stop while I'm not warmed up yet.

Nice one. For a more up to date Dungeon Master experience you might try Legend of Grimrock which is quite awesome. And when you recommend Dungeon Master then Captive must also be named

I've heard of Grimrock, but never checked it out...never even heard of Captive. Thanks for the pointers. For me, four games have really "wowed" me when I first saw/played them: tempest, zelda, dungeon master & doom I.

Nice one. For a more up to date Dungeon Master experience you might try Legend of Grimrock which is quite awesome. And when you recommend Dungeon Master then Captive must also be named

I've heard of Grimrock, but never checked it out...never even heard of Captive. Thanks for the pointers. For me, four games have really "wowed" me when I first saw/played them: tempest, zelda, dungeon master & doom I.

A couple of others worth checking out: star control II & populous.

Grimrock started out as a free Dungeon Master fan remake, but then grew into a true indie title. And a very impressive one at that. Old school Dungeon Master gameplay (including the spell system, which people either love or loathe), very modern style.

Captive is a quaint science fiction RPG from the 90's that has one very impressive gimmick even today: its so huge that nobody will ever complete it. This is because the game has an incredible seeded random generator; the game is the same each time you play it, but each base beyond the first is generated nonetheless. Its a bit of a cross-over between Dungeon Master and Elite really. This page tries to explain in detail how the generation works which is a great read for tech geeks:

XCom was brutally difficult. After building up a decent set of marines or what ever they are called. In one mission you could lose the lot. One would go insane killing a bunch of your own men/woman and then some stumpy alien would take out the rest in like 5 moves. Even a rocket up his arse wasn't always enough.

Its was a great game. There is a fan version of the game somewhere with a different name. But i can't find right now.

I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.--Albert Einstein

XCom was brutally difficult. After building up a decent set of marines or what ever they are called. In one mission you could lose the lot. One would go insane killing a bunch of your own men/woman and then some stumpy alien would take out the rest in like 5 moves. Even a rocket up his arse wasn't always enough.

Its was a great game. There is a fan version of the game somewhere with a different name. But i can't find right now.

It was a difficultly level that was unique to a small group of games, yes. Even back then gamers could be put off by it, its not something you can expose to the gamers of today who basically play to win, not play to be challenged. I never really found that kind of punishment fun, so I'll be happy if the new game is simplified a bit - as long as it still poses a decent challenge. From what I've seen so far at least the last incarnation of the game is quite true to the original, in gameplay at least.

- Silent Hill 1 (best horror game ever)- Final Fantasy 7 (looks horrible, but a very gripping story and the flexible materia system provides awesome gameplay)- Final Fantasy 9 (looks a lot better and has an excellent fantasy tale to tell)

I could go on forever though, I'd better stop while I'm not warmed up yet.

- Silent Hill 1 (best horror game ever)- Final Fantasy 7 (looks horrible, but a very gripping story and the flexible materia system provides awesome gameplay)- Final Fantasy 9 (looks a lot better and has an excellent fantasy tale to tell)

I could go on forever though, I'd better stop while I'm not warmed up yet.

If you're getting tired with FF, there're Grandia or Xenogear.

Yeah, all excellent choices. Grandia 2 also has a kinda unique fighting system which is fun.Star Ocean games aswell. 3 and 4 have very nice fast dynamic combat.

Problem is, you pretty much can only do it in 3D, so a bigger indie developer would have to do it.

If you have great story with some freaking arts, you can make it 2D and still make somechild cry.

technically... but its very much about realism and immersion. So the first person perspective plays a large role.Do you know any scaaary games which are 2D ? Not games with a horror genre but games which are actually kinda scary ?

Wow, thanks for all the recommendations! I can see putting together a "top 10 games every game-programmer SHOULD know and have played" list would be a real challenge. Maybe it should be top 50 or 100!

A scary 2D game is an interesting challenge, but maybe 3D is needed to make it work. With 3D one can create a sense of vertigo. In my meager experience, I played a pretty scary FPS, but it was more "stealth" than shooting: "Penumbra Overture". Imagine crouching behind some big oil cans hoping the growling guard dog does not spot you--and if you peek at the dog, the visuals start shaking (portraying your nerves giving out) and the dog will tear you to shreds. Really good sound effects. That was pretty scary.

Maybe a way to make a scary for 2D would include immersion sound effects & music. But also, there has to be things "around the corner" or unseen, so that might mean the 2D board would have to incorporate or suggest things that are off screen? I don't know. Seems to imply 3D.

Anyway, it sounds like I am in for a treat with some of these other scary games being mentioned!

Doom and Quake get mentioned a lot in "history of gaming" books, so I've long had them on my list to check out at some point. Now I am intrigued by Dune, too (or Dune II, too) and many of the others mentioned. Not enough time...

Yeah, this was a really open-ended question. It is a challenge even to come up with a list of all the genres, let alone the classics that everyone "should" know about in the various genres.

"We all secretly believe we are right about everything and, by extension, we are all wrong." W. Storr, The Unpersuadables

A scary 2D game is an interesting challenge, but maybe 3D is needed to make it work. With 3D one can create a sense of vertigo. In my meager experience, I played a pretty scary FPS, but it was more "stealth" than shooting: "Penumbra Overture". Imagine crouching behind some big oil cans hoping the growling guard dog does not spot you--and if you peek at the dog, the visuals start shaking (portraying your nerves giving out) and the dog will tear you to shreds. Really good sound effects. That was pretty scary.

Yeah, that's Frictional's first game, Amnesia is their 3rd I think. At least Penumbra gives you a gun, Amnesia you have to rely on sneaking, hiding and running like a little girl.

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